South Kitsap man flees accident on flat tires

Published 2:19 pm Friday, October 30, 2009

A South Kitsap man reportedly fled the scene of an accident this week on bare rims after popping his tires on a retaining wall, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office reported.

According to the incident report, witnesses observed the suspect hitting a concrete wall near a light pole on Mile Hill Drive at Long Lake Road on Oct. 26, then leaving the scene with flat tires.

One witness said the car was a white Chevrolet Astro van that was headed northbound on Woods Road with “no tires and was driving on wheels, throwing debris and sparks everywhere.”

A deputy responded and reported seeing “a large amount of tire debris strewn down the middle of the road … and deep gouges in the pavement from the bare rims of the van. (He) followed the debris and gouge marks to the registered owner’s residence.”

The deputy then contacted the driver as he exited his car, and he reportedly admitted that he had gotten into a collision and “panicked.”

The deputy noted that the front end of the vehicle was damaged and both tires on the driver’s side were “were gone and the rims were worn and jagged from being driven on.”

The driver said he was headed eastbound on Mile Hill Drive and was talking on his cell phone and suddenly swerved off the road and hit an embankment.

He said he knew he had flat tires and shouldn’t have driven home, but he “got scared and wasn’t thinking straight.”

When asked if he had been drinking, the driver admitted he “did have a couple of beers” at a nearby bar, but felt it was inattention that caused the accident.

The driver did not appear intoxicated and was not arrested.